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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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BV  4647  .S5  T5  1860 
This  one  thing  I  do 


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THIS  ONE  THING  I  DO. 


CALL   TO   CHRISTIAN   EARNESTNESS 
ADDRESSED  TO  NEW  DISCIPLES. 


"  I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended :  but  this  one  thing  I 
DO.  *  *  *  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."— Phiuppians  iii.  13, 14. 

"  I  tell  thee,  if  thou  wilt  observe  but  this  one  thing  for  thy  soul,  I 
make  no  doubt  of  thy  salvation.  Shake  off  thy  sloth  and  put  to  all  thy 
strength  and  be  a  Christian  indeed:  I  know  not  then  what  can  hinder 
thy  happiness.  But  *  *  *  *  jf  thou  loiter  when  thou  shouldst 
labor,  thou  wilt  lose  the  crown." — Saint's  Rest. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

,  PRESBYTERIAN  PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE, 

1334  CHESTNUT    STREET. 
NEW  YORK :    A.  D.  F.  RANDOLPH,  683  BROADWAY. 
CINCINNATI:  VTM.  SCOTT. ..  .ST.  LOUIS:   J.  W.  McINTYRE. ..  .DETROIT: 
F.  RAYMOND.... CHICAGO:  WM.  TOMLINSON. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 

WILLIAM  PURVES,  Treasurer, 

in  trust  for  the 

PRESBYTERIAN  PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Eastern  Distiict  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  k   CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


PREFACE. 


The  reader  of  the  following  pages  will  find 
a  slightly  varied  repetition  of  familiar  and 
thoroughly  discussed  truths.  Yet  the  writer 
believes  that,  though  there  is  neither  novelty 
in  the  subject  nor  obvious  peculiarity  in  the 
mode  of  treating  it,  the  little  book  will  not 
altogether  fail  to  promote  inquiry,  illustrate 
truth,  and  define  duty.  '^  Each  messenger," 
says  a  late  eminent  divine,  ''  has  some  pecu- 
liarity in  his  way  of  influence;  and  every 
man  who  thinks  long  and  deeply  upon  the 
plan  of  grace  has  certain  views  which  he 
cherishes  with  delight  and  in  which  he 
strongly  desires  that  others  may  participate. 
Even  truths  as  old  as  Christianity  itself 
strike   him   in   such  a  way  that  he   flatters 


4  PREFACE. 

himself  he  can  bring  them  home  with  a 
kindred  freshness  to  his  neighbors  and 
brethren."  If,  by  an  individual  mode  of  con- 
sidering an  important  question,  some  degree 
of  clearness  and  precision  has  in  one  case 
been  attained,  it  seems  natural  to  apply  to 
other  minds  the  same  process,  and  reasonable 
to  expect  a  similar  result.  There  are  many 
in  the  Christian  community  who,  owing  to 
youth,  to  manner  of  education  and  con- 
version, to  habits  of  superficial  thought,  and, 
especially,  to  the  undue  predominance  in  the 
present  day  of  active  over  contemplative  reli- 
gion, have  never  comprehended  their  posi- 
tion nor  duly  estimated  their  engagements. 
When,  heretofore,  the  writer's  attention  was 
directed  to  the  import  and  obligations  of  the 
ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  she  became 
sensible  of  the  insufiiciency  of  general  reli- 
gious reading  and  reflection,  and  perceived 
a  probable  advantage  from  arranging  for  her- 
self, in  relation  to  this  subject,  some  simple 
form  or  system  of  opinion   and   meditation. 


PREFACE.  5 

In  her  search  after  truth,  she  found  much 
requisite  information  and  many  valuable 
directions;  but  the  precious  ore  and  shining 
metal  seemed  to  need  the  coinage  of  her  own 
brain  and  the  touchstone  of  her  experience 
before  they  could  become  available  to  her 
purpose  and  sufficient  for  her  wants.  She 
was  thus  first  prompted  to  write  in  a  private 
record  some  portion  of  what  here  appears  as 
preparation  for  the  Communion,  and  after- 
ward found  interest  in  amplifying  the  sub- 
ject until  it  reached  a  shape  in  which  she 
hopes  it, will  not  be  deemed  inappropriate  to 
publication  nor  prove  serviceable  only  to 
herself. 

January.  1860, 

1« 


THIS  ONE  THING  I  DO. 


Earnestness  in  the  pursuit  of  an  ob- 
ject is  the  surest  pledge  of  its  attain- 
ment. Involvmg  faith  in  the  value  of 
the  thing  sought,  it  gives  diligence  and 
perseverance  to  effort,  and  often  com- 
pensates for  defect  of  strength  and  lack 
of  means.  Especially  is  this  true  in 
reference  to  the  religious  life.  The 
Christian  is  to  strive  for  the  prize  of 
the  high  calling  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  is  to  follow  after  that  holiness 
which  is  at  once  the  condition  and  evi- 
dence of  his  acceptance  with  God.  On 
the  character  of  his  first  convictions  and 


8  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

puriDOses  his  after-course  will  in  a  great 
measure  depend,  and  in  proportion  to 
his  standard  of  Christian  excellence  will 
be  his  progress  in  grace  and  his  advance 
in  the  divine  life.  According  to  his 
sense  of  sinfulness,  of  gratitude  to  his 
Redeemer,  of  desire  to  evince  by  his  life 
the  sincerity  of  his  repentance,  will,  in 
general,  his  self-surrender  be  complete 
and  his  holy  desires  abiding.  With  low 
and  unworthy  aims  and  views,  he  can 
rarely  be  other  than  a  feeble,  wavering 
Christian,  if  indeed  he  be  a  Christian 
at  all;  and,  after  having  faithfully 
sought  the  answer  to  the  question, 
"Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 
he  can  scarcely  fail  to  obtain  a  more 
perfect  acquaintance  with  self  and  a 
clearer  insight  into  the  will  of  God, — to 
know  and  do  which  constitutes  the 
whole  of  human  duty. 


THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO.  \) 

It  is  this  sense  of  the  importance  of 
earnest  thought  and  action  in  the  com- 
mencement of  a  religious  life  which  has 
led  us  to  consider  particularly  the  first 
duty  of  a  Christian  as  such, — the  act  hy 
which  he  assumes  the  name  and  obliga- 
tions of  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ, — and 
to  endeavor,  in  describing  the  prepara- 
tion for  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
and  the  right  use  of  prayer  and  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  as  the  main 
helps  to  holy  living,  to  trace  an  outline 
of  what  we  deem  should  be  a  Christian's 
Avalk  and  conversation.  With  the  com- 
memoration of  the  death  of  his  Saviour, 
the  religious  life  of  the  professing  Chris- 
tian begins ;  and  perhaps  no  portion  of 
his  duty  has  been  more  ably  discussed 
or  more  fully  enforced.  In  our  Pro- 
testant age  and  country,  there  is  less 
danger  of  ignorance  or  misapprehension 


10  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

on  this  point  than  on  almost  any  other. 
Still,  it  may  be  of  use  to  attempt  to 
elicit  from  the  mass  of  what  has  been 
written,  the  simj)lest  form  of  doctrinal 
truth  and  the  niost  profitable  sug- 
gestions for  practice.  As  minds  vary, 
so  will  religious  experience  vary;  and 
often  that  which  will  be  most  valuable 
in  one  case  should  in  another  occupy  a 
less  prominent  position,  and  may  indeed' 
be  altogether  unnecessary  and  irrele- 
vant. But  in  the  ordinance  designed  to 
be  the  bond  of  union  and  the  pledge  of 
obedience  to  Christ,  there  are  general 
considerations  adapted  to  each  under- 
standing, and  general  directions  which 
cannot  fail  to  secure  to  the  sincere  in- 
quirer the  desired  benefit.  To  such  a 
one,  if  this  little  book  should  meet  his 
eye,  we  would  address  the  word  in 
season,  hoping,  in  considering  this  sub- 


THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO.  11 

ject,  to  propose  nothing  calculated  to 
perplex  and  oppress  his  mind,  but  to 
offer  to  him  that  only  which  he  can 
readily  embrace,  easily  recall,  and  ad- 
vantageously practise. 

Let  us  first  briefly  review  the  history 
of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Our  Saviour,  knowing  that  the  time 
of  his  departure  was  at  hand,  and  that 
the  great  sacrifice  must  soon  be  accom- 
plished which  would  at  once  close  his 
ministry  on  earth,  separate  him  from 
his  dependent  followers,  and  exalt  him 
to  be  their  advocate  and  intercessor  in 
heaven,  "the  same  night  in  which  he 
was  betrayed  took  bread,  and  when  he 
had  given  thanks  he  brake  it,  and  said, 
Take,  eat;  this  is  my  body  which  is 
broken  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he 
took  the  cup  when  he  had  supped,  say- 


12  THIS   ONE   THING   I   DO. 

ing,  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in 
my  blood :  this  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink 
it,  in  remembrance  of  me."  The  apostle 
adds,  "  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread 
and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  come."  So  far  as 
we  can  learn  from  this  narration  and 
from  the  early  history  of  the  church, 
this  was  regarded  as  a  perfectly  simple 
transaction, — a  direction  to  refer  at  cer- 
tain periods  to  the  Saviour  of  mankind, 
and  to  keep  ever,  through  all  time,  in 
all  subsequent  states  of  the  church,  "till 
he  come,"  the  recollection  of  his  life  and 
death  by  means  of  this  visible  observ- 
ance. It  was  during  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  Jewish  passover  that  Jesus 
Christ  gave  this  command  to  his  dis- 
ciples. To  their  minds,  then  directed 
to  the  typical  deliverance  of  their  nation 
from   bondage    and   death,   and   to   the 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  13 

shedding  of  blood  as  their  salvation  and 
hope,  this  reference  to  the  predicted 
sufferings  and  death  of  their  Master, 
the  true  Paschal  Lamb,  the  end  of  the 
law,  the  thing  signified  in  all  their  cere- 
monies, must  have  presented  itself  with 
peculiar  force. 

To  the  Christian  church,  since  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  the  obligation  to 
this  commemoration  of  the  Saviour  is 
his  command ;  the  virtue  of  it,  that  it 
is  an  act  of  love,  of  faith,  of  gratitude, 
of  self-consecration  to  Him  who  requires 
these  exercises  of  our  minds,  and  with- 
out them  will  not  bestow  the  blessings 
of  pardon  and  eternal  life.  It  is  also 
the  sign  of  the  Christian  church, — that 
by  which  it  declares  its  Master  to  be 
Christ,  its  Head,  the  crucified  Redeemer 
of  the  world.  Christians,  therefore, 
from  that  period  until  now,  have  obeyed 

2 


14  THIS   ONE    THING   I   DO. 

the  dying  command  of  their  Lord,  and 
from  time  to  time  have  united  in  a  feast 
which  has  thus  become  the  bond  of  their 
union  and  the  token  of  their  obedience 
to  Christ.  To  constitute  a  fitness  for  it, 
there  is  nothing  requisite  but  faith  in 
him,  repentance  for  sin,  and  a  conse- 
quent 23urpose  to  lead  a  holy  life.  In 
our  day  this  memorial  of  the  Saviour 
has  been  described  as  a  mystery  and  a 
sacrifice.  But  surely  in  no  sense  can 
either  of  these  terms  be  a23propriate, 
and  the  use  of  them  confuses  and 
darkens  a  subject  than  which  none  in 
revealed  truth  is  simpler  and  more  ma- 
nifest. We  believe  that  much  of  the 
hesitation  and  fear  often  felt  by  those 
who  desire  to  make  a  pubhc  profession 
of  faith  in  Christ  arises  from  some  such 
false  view  of  this  ordinance  and  from 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  15 

imperfect  examination  of  its  history  and 
import.     ' 

He  who  wishes  to  unite  himself  to  the 
church  of  Christ  should  ask,  Do  I  be- 
lieve in  my  Saviour?  Does  my  faith 
influence  not  only  my  intellect  but  my 
heart,  inclining  it  to  embrace  the  gospel 
scheme  of  redemption  and  to  submit  to 
its  terms  of  pardon  ?  Do  I  feel  true 
repentance  for  my  sins,  not  only  for 
single  offences  which  out  of  the  multi- 
tude of  the  past  may  stand  forth  pre- 
eminent, but  repentance  for  ^^  the  inward 
principle  of  contrariety  to  the  law  of 
God,"  for  the  continual  proneness  to 
evil,  for  that  other  law  in  my  members 
ever  warring  against  the  law  of  my 
mind  ?  Do  I  purpose  to  lead  a  holy 
life,  and  is  it  my  most  earnest  desire  to 
do  the  will  of  my  Maker,  to  honor  his 
cause  and  to  glorif)^  his  name?     Who- 


16  THIS   ONE    THING   I   DO. 

ever  can  before  God  and  his  conscience 
faithfully  answer  these  questions,  may 
come  with  confidence,  though  with  humi- 
lity, and  receive  the  emblems  of  his  Sa- 
viour's body  and  blood.  Still,  it  is  most 
needful  that  sufficient  evidence  be  fur- 
nished that  this  is  indeed  the  state  of 
the  heart.  Many,  it  is  true,  hesitate 
without  cause ;  but  we  hold — though  in 
opposition  to  some  writers  on  this  sub- 
ject— that  the  communion  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  though  unquestion- 
ably a  means  of  grace,  is  not  solely  or 
primarily  such.  It  marks  a  position 
already  attained,  it  states  a  fact,  it  sup- 
poses the  partaker  to  have  already 
chosen  whom  he  will  serve  and  on  what 
side  he  will  stand.  Something  of  grace 
and  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  must  then 
be  perceptible  in  the  life  of  him  who 
enrols  himself  in  the  Christian  ranks. 


THIS    ONE    THINC    I    DO.  17 

If  he  expects  to  wage  a  conflict  with 
sin  and  Satan,  he  must  see  to  it  first 
that  he  has  his  weapons,  and  that  they 
are  tempered  for  the  strife.  The  as- 
surance of  hope,  the  certainty  of  being 
in  a  state  of  reconciliation  with  God 
and  of  having  become  the  subject  of  his 
grace,  are  not  possessed  and  enjoyed  by 
every  believer;  nor  is  any  such  con- 
fidence, however  much  it  may  com- 
fort and  elevate,  essential  to  conversion 
or  a  necessary  condition  of  acceptance 
with  our  Maker.  But  he  who  designs 
to  connect  himself  with  the  visible 
church  of  Christ  must  have  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  sinfulness  and  the  de- 
sire for  holiness  so  far  developed  as  to 
have  induced,  by  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit,  some  degree  of  repentance  for 
the  one,  and  of  faith  in  Christ  as  the 
means  of  obtaining  the    other.     These 


18  THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO. 

internal  principles  cannot  exist  without 
their  outward  expression.  They  must 
lead  to  the  state  of  heart  and  the  mode 
of  life  which  the  Bible  describes  and 
enjoins.  This  conformity  to  the  law 
of  God  is  not  the  less  real  because  it 
may  vary  from  circumstances  of  educa- 
tion, temperament,  position,  health,  and 
belief.  Neither  should  its  existence  be 
doubted  because  it  is  not  at  all  times 
equally  discernible  in  the  life  of  the 
penitent  who  desires  yet  hesitates  to 
call  himself  by  the  name  of  Christ.  His 
experience  so  far  has  been,  and,  we  can 
tell  him,  will  continue  more  or  less  to 
be  one  of  grievous  sins,  sad  declensions, 
frequent  coldness,  and,  perhaps,  unbe- 
lief But  if  he  can  through  this  dark- 
ness see  the  faintest  spark  of  desire 
after  God  and  holiness,  if  he  earnestly 
seeks   to   be    delivered   from    sin, — ^not 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  19 

merely  from  its  consequences,  but  from 
sin  itself, — if  he  honors  the  name  and 
day  of  God,  loves  his  people,  feeds  his 
poor,  and  frequents  his  house,  then  may 
he  take  heart  and  come  forward  to  his 
Master's  table,  there  to  declare  his  de- 
votion to  him  and  to  unite  with  Chris- 
tians in  celebrating  the  love  which  will 
^accomplish  their  redemption. 

By  all  who  recognise  the  ordinance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  it  is  admitted  that 
^  special  preparation  is  ordinarily  essen- 
tial to  its  worthy  and  profitable  recep- 
tion. The  teaching  of  Scripture  is  ex- 
plicit on  this  point : — "  Examine  your- 
selves whether  ye  be  in  the  faith." 
"  But  let  a  man  examine  himself,  and  so 
let  him  eat  of  that  bread  and  drink  of 
that  cup;  for  if  we  would  judge  ourselves 
we  should  not  be  judged;" — and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  in  proportion  to  the  careful- 


'20  THIS    ONE    THING    I   DO. 

ness  of  the  preparation  is  the  benefit 
accruing  and  the  comfort  enjoyed.  The 
work  of  the  heart  is  not,  it  is  true,  de- 
pendent on  set  times  or  serial  exercises. 
It  may  be,  and  doubtless  often  is,  as 
fully  accomplished  in  moments  as  in 
hours.  Such,  however,  is  not  generally 
the  mode  of  the  Spirit's  dealing  with 
us ;  and,  free  and  boundless  as  is  God's 
mercy,  he  will  still  be  inquired  of  in  the 
bestowment  of  his  blessings.  His  word 
declares  what  our  experience  confirms, 
— that  here,  also,  we  must  walk  in  the 
appointed  way,  must  ask  if  we  would 
obtain,  seek  if  we  would  find,  and  be 
willing  to  give  an  undivided  attention 
to  the  consideration  of  this  solemn  act 
of  faith  and  love  if  we  truly  desire  com- 
munion with  Christ  and  fellowship  with 
his  disciples.  The  heart  is  by  nature 
so  sluggish,  so  averse  from  holy  thoughts 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  21 

and  spiritual  exercises,  it  so  shrinks  from 
groping  in  its  own  darkness  and  tracing 
the  windings  and  doublings  of  its  own 
deceitfulness,  that,  unless  constrained 
by  repeated  efforts,  it  will  relax  in  vigi- 
lance and  become  satisfied  with  a  formal 
and  imperfect  self-examination.  It  will 
also  in  almost  every  instance  be  found 
that,  however  weak  the  sense  of  sin  and 
self-abasement,  it  will  strengthen  by 
meditation,  and  the  breath  of  prayer 
will  kindle  within  us  what  were  before 
the  dying  embers  of  faith  and  love. 

Give  yourself,  then,  young  or  un- 
thinking disciple  of  Christ,  in  earnest  to 
this  work.  Leave  not  to  the  latest 
period  that  consideration  which  you 
dare  not  altogether  neglect,  but  which 
is  unwelcome  and  painful  to  you.  Re- 
strain the  demands  of  society,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  of  business,  upon  your 


22  THIS   ONE    THING   I   DO. 

time.  Put  your  mind  in  a  posture  of 
though tfulness,  of  prayer,  and  of  self- 
examination.  If  not  at  other  times,  at 
least  noio  when  you  are  about  to  engage 
in  one  of  the  most  solemn  acts  of  your 
spiritual  life,  give  yourself  up  to  direct 
communion  with  your  God,  to  remem- 
brance of  your  Saviour,  to  supplications 
to  the  Holy  Spirit  for  aid  in  all  the 
parts  of  your  duty,  for  strength  to  resist 
the  adversary  of  your  soul,  who  would 
tempt  you  to  unbelief,  to  wandering  and 
lightness  of  mind,  to  hardness  and  in- 
difference of  heart. 

You  have  very  much  to  ponder ; — the 
prevailing  state  of  your  spiritual  con- 
cerns,— the  particular  sins  to  which  pecu- 
liar circumstances  and  temptations  have 
inclined  you, — the  besetting  sins  against 
which  is  your  hardest  struggle  and 
wliich    have    either    been    successfully 


THIS   ONE    THING   I   DO.  23 

combated,  or,  obtaining  the  mastery, 
have  rendered  you  feebler  than  before. 
You  have  to  ask  what  is  your  repent- 
ance for  thrice-multiplied  transgressions 
against  the  law  and  love  of  God.  Is  it 
repentance^ — a  grieving  for  and  a  turn- 
ing from  the  sin  ?  Is  it,  with  sorrow  for 
the  offence,  an  earnest  purpose  of  a  ncAV 
obedience  ?  Do  you  view  with  loathing 
and  self-abhorrence  the  desperate  wicked- 
ness of  your  heart  and  the  evil  of  your 
life  ?  Or  if,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
you  have  been  kept  from  gross  sins,  if 
by  natural  temperament  you  are  not 
susceptible  of  strong  emotion,  and  can- 
not bring  yourself  to  feel  the  keen 
anguish  and  remorse  that  the  sense  of 
sin  occasions  to  others,  still  do  you  en- 
tertain a  clear  conviction  of  having 
offended  God  ?  Do  you  consider  sin  as 
hateful  in  itself  as  well  as  awful  in  its 


24  THIS   ONE    THING    I   DO. 

consequences?  Do  you  feel  a  positive, 
if  not  overwhelming  regret  for  your  past 
misdeeds  ? 

What  is  the  character  of  your  faith 
in  Christ?  Have  you  accepted  him  as 
3'our  Eedeemer,  and  are  you  continually 
trusting  to  him  for  salvation  ?  Do  you 
view  him  in  his  human  nature  as  your 
friend,  your  elder  Brother,  your  counsel- 
lor, your  guide,  your  comforter?  Have 
you  discerned  the  loveliness  of  his  un- 
equalled character?  Have  you  felt  his 
tenderness?  Have  the  tears  he  shed 
over  Lazarus  seemed  again  to  flow  for 
you  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ?  Has 
that  look  which  fell  on  Peter  seemed  at 
times  to  rest  on  you  and  rebuke  you 
for  your  faithlessness  and  indifference  ? 
Peter  denied  his  Saviour  thrice ;  but 
you,  who  went  not  up  amid  the  fury  and 
tumult  of  a  mob  to  the  judgment-hall, 


THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO.  25 

you,  who  have  now  learned  the  triumph 
of  his  death  and  the  wonder  of  his  re- 
surrection,— how  often  have  you  denied 
him  ?  In  his  divine  nature,  do  you 
view  Jesus  Christ  as  the  brightness  of 
the  Father's  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person,  the  Creator  of 
worlds,  the  Judge  of  men  ?  Is  he 
equally  with  the  Father  the  object  of 
your  praise,  and  do  you  exalt  him  in 
your  heart  as  one  with  the  Father,  God 
over  all,  blessed  forever  ? 

You  have  also  to  recall  your  conduct 
and  examine  your  feelings  toward  your 
fellow-men.  If  you  have  enemies,  are 
they  such  without  fault  of  yours, — or 
with  strenuous  efforts  on  your  part 
to  repair  whatever  injury  you  have 
done,  to  forgive  every  injury  you  have 
suffered,  joined  to  a  willingness  to  re- 
turn good  for  the  evil  received  ?     How 


26  THIS   ONE   THING   I   DO. 

have  you  performed  your  duties  to  your 
family,  your  friends,  your  neighbors, 
and  your  country? 

If  a  husband  or  a  wife,  how  have  you 
acted  in  this  tenderest  and  closest  of 
human  relations  ?  Have  you  been  faith- 
ful to  your  pledges  and  to  vows  made 
before  God  and  recorded  in  his  book? 
Have  you  loved  and  honored,  cherished 
and  clung  to,  the  companion  of  your 
life?  or,  at  least,  have  you  been  kind 
and  tender-hearted,  forbearing  and  for- 
giving, and  has  this  been  not  your 
occasional  but  your  habitual  practice  ? 
Have  you  been  self-denying  and  patient, 
not  only  in  the  emergencies,  but  in  the 
ordinary  trials  and  anxieties,  of  your 
condition  ?  You  could  perhaps  have 
found  strength  to  forgive  and  meekly 
endure  exaggerated  offences  and  gross 
wrong.     Have  you,  in  like  manner,  for- 


THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO.  Z< 

given  and  endured,  not  sullenly  or 
sternly,  but  with  gentleness  and  tender- 
ness, the  petulance,  suspicion,  and  dis- 
trust which  without  cause  may  have 
wrung  your  spirit  and  marred  your 
peace  ?  Es23ecially,  have  you  sought 
the  spiritual  advancement  and  eternal 
salvation  of  the  partner  of  your  bosom  ? 
Have  you  prayed  and  striven  that  you 
might  be  joined  not  only  in  the  flesh 
but  in  the  love  and  service  of  God,  that 
you  might  be  one  in  Christ,  one  in  hope 
and  aim,  and  one  at  last  in  heaven  ? 

If  you  are  a  parent,  have  you  asked 
for  your  children  what  Solomon  de- 
sired chiefly  for  himself, — not  riches  or 
honors,  but  the  only  true  wisdom? 
Have  you  early  and  uniformly  purposed, 
with  Hannah,  that  you  will  lend  these 
children  unto  the  Lord,  that  "  as  long 
as  they  live  they  shall  be  lent  unto  the 


28  THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO. 

Lord"?  Have  you  ever  tried  to  mea- 
sure the  length  and  breadth  of  your 
duty  to  them?  Pause,  now,  and  look 
at  it  for  a  moment.  Your  helpless, 
innocent,  unconscious  children,  who  can 
now  look  to  you  alone  for  temporal  and 
spiritual  good,  who  must  lean  on  you — 
alas !  it  may  be  a  broken  reed — until 
their  eyes  are  strong  to  discern  and 
their  feet  to  tread  the  right  path,  whose 
tempers  are  to  be  moulded  to  gentleness 
and  Christian  meekness,  whose  minds 
are  to  be  directed  to  whatsoever  things 
are  true  and  pure  and  lovely,  who  are 
to  be  led  away  from  contemplating  the 
dross  of  this  world  to  perceive  and  value 
the  pure  gold  which  adorns  the  ever- 
lasting temple  of  God,  into  whose  open, 
thirsting  minds  are  to  be  carefully,  con- 
stantly instilled — yea,  poured,  drop  by 
drop — lessons   of    that    wisdom    which 


THIS   ONE    THINCx    I    DO.  29 

only  can  secure  to  them  salvation ; — oh, 
who  is  to  be  faithful  to  them  in  these 
things !  Pray,  parent,  for  them,  and 
pray  for  yourself,  that  a  God  of  mercy 
may  not  let  you  lie  down  on  a  dying 
bed  conscious  that  you  have  utterly 
come  short  in  all.  Ask  him  to  direct 
you  and  aid  you  to  keep  ever  before 
your  mind  that  these  are  immortal  souls 
committed  to  your  charge,  and  that  it 
will  perhaps  depend  on  you,  in  his  mys- 
terious dealings,  whether  they  are  to 
dwell  forever  with  the  damned,  or  to 
rise  to  light  and  holiness  and  bliss. 

In  your  intercourse  with  the  vv^orld, 
is  it  your  endeavor  to  lead  the  life  and 
show  the  spirit  of  a  Christian ;  and, 
Avhatever  be  your  time,  influence,  tal- 
ents, and  attainments,  do  you  use  them 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  interests  of 
religion  ?     Is  it  the  office  of  your  tongue 

3* 


30  THIS   ONE    THING   I   DO. 

in  season  to  instruct,  to  warn,  to  exhort^ 
and  to  convey  to  other  minds  sound 
opinions,  pure  sentiments,  and  the  most 
decided  testimony  to  the  truth  and 
power  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible  ? 

Lastly,  if  you  have  already  become  a 
member  of  the  church  of  Christ,  what 
has  been  your  position  there  ?  Have 
you  added  one  to  its  number,  but 
nothing  to  its  strength?  Have  you 
been  the  unfruitful  tree  which  hath 
cumbered  the  ground  and  hindered  the 
growth  of  other  plants  in  the  vineyard 
of  the  Lord?  Has  the  light  and  heat 
of  ordinances  been  shed  on  you  in  vain, 
and  has  the  breath  of  prayer  in  God's 
house  been  in  vain  wafted  over  your 
soul  and  failed  to  bring  forth  the  fair 
blossoms  of  Christian  love  and  hope, 
the  fruits  of  Christian  righteousness  and 
usefulness  ?    Or  have  you  perceived  that 


THIS   ONE    THING    I   DO.  31 

the  end  of  your  faith  is  not  simply  to 
secure  your  own  salvation,  but  to  glorify 
God  and  to  honor  your  Saviour  by  ex- 
tending his  cause,  co-operating  in  his 
work,  and  conforming  to  his  will  ? 

Such  is  a  somewhat  extended  outline 
of  the  duty  of  self-examination ;  and  it 
is  to  be  filled  up  with  whatever  arises 
from  individual  or  peculiar  obligations, 
temptations,  and  capabilities. 

Another  means  of  preparation  for  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  meditation  upon  his 
life,  sufferings,  and  death,  the  wonderful 
love  which  induced  his  sacrifice,  and  the 
glory  of  his  reappearing.  Indeed,  this 
is  the  subject  which  should  pre-emi- 
nently engage  our  attention.  "Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified"  should  be  at 
such  a  time  the  chief  theme  of  our  reflec- 
tions,— a  theme  from  which  not  even 
our    unworthiness,    repentance,    or    any 


32  THIS    ONE    THING   I    DO. 

other  topic  connected  with  the  occasion, 
should  long  distract  us.  We  should  aim 
at  exercising  such  faith  and  trust  in  him 
as  that,  when  pressed  down  by  a  sense 
of  sin,  by  doubts  of  our  perseverance, 
and  by  despairing  views  of  our  weakness 
and  the  strength  of  our  spiritual  adver- 
sary, we  may  look  to  the  cross,  and,  there 
beholding  the  full  atonement  for  all  sin 
and  recalling  the  precious  benefits  and 
pledges  aftbrded  us  by  this  perfect  satis- 
faction of  our  Redeemer,  may  overcome 
every  doubt  and  fear,  and  draw  supplies 
of  strength  and  hope  from  the  contem- 
plation of  his  boundless  love  and  unfail- 
ing mercy.  Chiefly,  therefore,  should 
you  dwell  on  the  great  work  of  Christ 
jind  his  ability  to  save.  Your  soul  will 
thus  be  filled  with  awe  and  tenderness 
hi  view  of  his  amazing  sufferings,  with 
gratitude  and  admiration,  and  with  ear- 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  33 

nest  desire  to  appropriate  the  blessings 
of  his  death.  Remembering  your  past 
omissions,  yea,  carefully  recalling  them 
and  striving  for  a  due  sense  of  shame 
and  sorrow,  you  will,  in  view  of  that  per- 
fect purity  and  that  infinite  compassion 
for  your  infirmities,  the  more  earnestly 
form  purposes  of  amendment,  and  this 
not  in  your  own  strength,  but  fervently 
supplicating  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

But  self-examination  and  meditation 
on  the  character  and  work  of  Christ  will 
be  insufficient  to  your  preparation  for 
the  solemn  ordinance  which  you  design 
to  observe,  if  you  add  not  to  them 
humble,  fervent,  believing  'prayer.  At 
no  time,  perhaps,  can  you  offer  j^our 
supplications  at  the  throne  of  grace  with 
greater  hope  of  their  being  heard  and 
answered.     If  you  have  faithfully  pur- 


34  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

sued  the  course  that  has  been  indicated, 
you  have,  as  a  natural  result,  obtained 
clearer  views  of  your  lost  condition,  of 
your  inability  to  regain  the  forfeited 
favor  of  your  God,  and  an  almost  de- 
spairing sense  of  your  proneness  to  evil 
and  of  your  feebleness  to  oppose  the 
attacks  of  the  great  enemy  of  your  soul. 
If  your  meditations  have  been  blessed 
by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  you  have  invoked,  you  have  a 
more  perfect  apprehension  of  the  worth 
and  mercy  of  the  sacrifice  which  the 
Son  of  God  has  made  for  you,  of  the 
spotless  purity  of  his  human  and  of  the 
glorious  majesty  of  his  divine  nature. 
He  has  appeared  infinitely  precious  to 
your  soul,  so  that  you  could  cling  to 
him  as  your  Master  and  Lord,  and  de- 
sire no  other  attainment  than  to  be 
"  like  him,"  no  other  portion  than  to  be 


THIS   ONE    THING   I    DO.  35 

"forever  with  the  Lord," — a  partaker 
alike  of  his  nature  and  his  glory.  You 
have  for  once  felt  some  longing  to  be 
done  with  the  sin  as  wellas  the  misery 
of  your  state, — to  bid  adieu  to  every 
doubt,  regret,  and  fear, — to  serve  without 
imperfection  or  distraction  that  Saviour 
whose  claim  to  your  gratitude  and  love 
is  lasting  as  eternity, — to  bask  in  the 
light  of  that  uncreated  sun  whose  far- 
reaching  beams  reveal  in  the  fair  works 
of  the  heavenly  world  no  stain  or  de- 
formity, but  only  truth,  order,  and 
beauty  to  your  bewildered  intellect,  and 
purity  and  peace  to  your  longing  and 
wearied  heart.  You  have  in  these  con- 
templations so  refreshed  and  strength- 
ened your  soul  that  it  has  ranged  with 
ever-new  delight  from  each  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Saviour's  perfection  to  his 
promises  of  pardon,  from    the   holiness 


36  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

of  the  law  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
atonement;  and  to  you  have  perhaps 
been  granted  those  "  permitted  moments 
of  exultation  through  faith  when  we 
cease  to  feel  our  own  emptiness  save  as 
a  capacity  for  our  Kedeemer's  fulness." 
What  more  fitting,  then,  than  that  at 
such  a  time  you  should  seek  direct  and 
personal  communion  with  Him  who  has 
been  the  glorious  and  inexhaustible 
theme  of  your  meditation,  and  that, 
when  you  have  reason  to  think  he  has 
graciously  visited  your  soul  and  afforded 
it  some  clearer  view  of  his  perfection, 
you  should,  with  increased  humility, 
faith,  fervor,  and  hope,  bring  unto  him 
the  offering  of  your  praise  and  plead  for 
forgiveness  and  eternal  life?  Sensible 
how  feeble  are  even  the  strongest  mo- 
tions of  your  soul  toward  him,  how  dim 
your  brightest  views,  and  how  imperfect 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  .)  t 

your  best  apprehensions  ol'  liis  presence 
and  character,  you  will  pour  out  your 
heart  in  supplications  for  the  especial 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  you  to 
obtain  a  more  full  conception  of  the 
great  scheme  of  redemption,  of  its  sub- 
lime commencement,  its  wonderful  pro- 
secution, and  its  stupendous  accomplish- 
ment. You  will  ask  the  same  gracious 
influence,  that  your  heart  may  be  deeply 
affected  by  the  remembrance  of  the  sor- 
rowful life  and  agonizing  death  of  Him 
who  showed  such  love  to  your  soul  that 
he  left  the  glory  and  bliss  of  heaven 
that  he  might  provide  the  means  for  its 
salvation,  and,  if  possible,  induce  you  to 
adopt  them. 

From  supplications  like  these  you 
will  rise  prepared  to  go,  not  with  doubt- 
ing and  trembling,  but  with  confidence, 
yea,  joy,   to  that  feast  spread    out  for 

4 


38  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

you,  and  you  will  experience  Avhat  we 
believe  is  not  merely  the  desirable,  but 
the  only  suitable  state  of  feeling  when 
partaking  of  the  memorials  of  our  Sa- 
viour's death.  Humble  you  will  feel 
yourself  to  be.  deeply  self-abased,  even 
as  after  the  commission  of  some  heinous 
sin;  but,  unlike  that  humility,  your 
present  prostration  of  spirit  will  be  un- 
accompanied by  bitterness  and  degrada- 
tion. Self  and  sin  will  almost  be  lost 
sight  of  in  the  contemplation  of  an  in- 
finitely lovely  Saviour,  in  transporting 
views  of  the  freeness  and  sufficiency  of 
the  salvation  he  has  worked  out  for 
you,  in  exulting  anticipation  of  his 
second  coming,  when  joii  shall  taste 
with  him  that  "  new  wine," — the  bless- 
ings of  redemption, — and,  freed  forever 
from  sin  and  sorrow,  shall  have  perfect 
and  eternal  scope  for  the  highest  exer- 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  39 

cise  of  your  gratitude  and  love  to  this 
blessed  Lord  and  Master.  Self  and 
sin! — what  have  jou  now  in  these  fa- 
vored moments  to  do  with  them  ?  Has 
not  the  one  been  devoted  to  your  Re- 
deemer, consecrated  to  him  for  time 
and  for  eternity,  and  will  he  refuse  the 
offering  he  died  to  secure  ?  ''■  Will  he 
lead  thee  to  death  who  died  to  save 
thee  from  it  ?"  Sin  ! — has  it  not  been 
abhorred,  repented  of,  renounced  ?  Has 
not  He  who  is  faithful  pronounced  that 
it  shall  not  have  lasting  dominion  over 
you  ?  What  more  can  you  ask  ?  No  : 
your  communion  is  noio  to  be  with 
your  Redeemer,  and  his  matchless  con- 
descension the  theme  of  your  reflections. 
You  are  to  catch  some  rays  from  the 
glory  of  his  countenance,  to  rejoice  for 
a  season  in  his  smile,  and  to  hear  the 
gracious    tones  of    his    voice    speaking 


40  THIS    OXE    THING    I    DO. 

peace  to  your  soul  with  the  j^i^^cious 
and  eternal  words,  ''  I  will  come  again 
and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where 
I  am  there  ye  may  be  also.  I  will  that 
they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be 
with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glorj^" 


Bat,  like  Moses,  we  must  leave  our 
mount  of  vision  and  blest  meditation 
and  return  to  the  cares  and  duties 
which  too  often  hide  heaven  from  our 
eyes  and  attract  so  long  our  gaze  that  it 
cannot  return  to  the  prospect  that  had 
cheered  and  strengthened  us.  Here  in- 
dexed is  the  problem  of  Christian  life; 
here  the  rock  on  which  50  many  split ; 
here  the  darkness  through  which  so 
many  grope,  and,  alas !  never  learn  to 
direct  their  eyes  to  the  light.     How  can 


THIS    ONE    THING    1    DO.  4] 

we  reconcile  the  earthly  walk  to  the 
heavenly  mind  ?  How  are  we,  being 
of  the  earth,  earthy,  to  fulfil  the  lawful 
requirements  of  this  our  nature, — to  eat 
and  drink,  to  love  and  rejoice,  to  labor 
and  repose, — and  yet  live  in  heart  and 
mind  in  that  heaven  whither  we  would 
go,  and  habitually  value  the  objects  of 
faith  and  hope  far  beyond  those  of  sense 
and  sight?  This  is  the  lifelong  per- 
plexity of  almost  every  Christian.  Even 
though  theoretically  he  may  have  re- 
moved the  difficulty,  practically  it  is 
ever  renewed  till  death  translates  him 
to  a  state  where  his  nature  is  no  more 
subjected  to  adverse  and  debasing  in- 
fluences. And  yet,  on  right  views  of 
this  subject,  on  persevering  efforts  and 
constant  direction  of  the  mind  to  the 
truth,  depends  most  of  Christian  attain- 
ment and  perhaps  all  of  Christian  com- 


42  THIS    OKE    THING    I    DO. 

fort.  We  complain  of  drawbacks,  of 
want  of  peace,  of  broken  resolutions, 
of  misspent  time  and  misused  influence, 
of  inability  to  make  any  advance  in  the 
divine  life,  of  coldness  in  prayer  and 
ever-wandering  thoughts  in  the  house 
of  God ;  and,  if  a  careful  review  be 
made,  it  will  be  found  that  our  sinful- 
ness and  misery  have  formed  the  chief 
subjects  of  our  religious  meditations. 
Needful  as  are  an  acquaintance  with 
self  and  an  abiding  sense  of  infirmity  to 
occasion  humility,  w^atchfulness,  and  de- 
pendence on  God,  still  w^e  shall  never 
walk  in  the  light  nor  enjoy  the  liberty 
of  the  gospel,  if  from  the  stepping-stone 
of  self  and  earthly  circumstance  we 
ascend  not  into  that  higher  region 
where  we  may  ever  behold  the  perfec- 
tions of  God,  obtain  glimpses  of  the 
paradise  above,  and  discern  more  clearly 


THIS    OXE    THING    1    DO.  43 

the  wonders  of  creation  and  providence. 
If  we  admit  that  conduct  is  the  result 
or  development  of  mental  operations, 
we  must  perceive  the  value,  nay,  the 
indispensable  necessity,  of  such  views 
of  our  relations  to  God,  of  the  uses  and 
duties  of  the  present  life  and  the  cha- 
racter of  the  future,  as  are  adapted  to 
dismiss  perplexity, — so  often  ending  in 
doubt  and  disbelief, — to  elevate  and  en- 
lighten the  intellect,  and  to  diffuse  peace 
through  the  heart.  But  for  the  benefit 
and  enjoyment  of  such  meditations  there 
is  a  training  necessary, — a  training  which 
no  Christian  parent  or  teacher  can  give, 
and  which  is  the  result  of  a  deep  con- 
viction of  the  paramount  importance  of 
heavenly  things  and  of  faithful,  perse- 
vering prayer. 

Bishop    Wilson    said.    He    who    has 
learned  to  pray  has  learned  the  secret 


44  THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO. 

of  a  holy  life.  Here,  then,  we  offer  you 
the  solution  of  the  problem  we  have 
sj)oken  of, — answer  now  the  question 
which  to  philosophy,  to  a  formal  reli- 
gion, to  your  own  understanding,  you 
have  so  often  and  so  vainly  proposed, — 
furnish  you  with  the  only  means  by 
which,  in  the  necessities  and  enjoy- 
ments, the  temptations  and  trials  of 
your  condition,  you  may  ever  walk 
with  God, — and  point  out  to  you  the 
bridge  which,  unseen  by  so  many  mortal 
eyes,  connects  earth  and  heaven,  and 
passing  over  which  you  may  discover 
the  richest  treasures  and  return  laden 
with  the  most  precious  gifts.  How  can 
it  be  otherwise,  when  it  is  i^rayer  which 
opens  to  us  the  holy  of  holies  of  our 
faith,  which  affords  us  the  nearest  vicAV 
of  the  heavenly  glory,  the  clearest  mani- 
festation of  the  Avill  and,  perchance,  of 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  45 

the  favor  of  our  God,  and,  clearing  the 
film  from  our  eyes,  enables  us  to  behold 
in  vision  our  destiny  and  freedom,  our 
true  life  and  completed  happiness  ? 

In  entering  upon  this  duty,  which  so 
remarkably  connects  the  reward  with 
the  performance,  we  should  endeavor  to 
view  ourselves  as  in  the  presence  of  the 
Godhead,  to  exclude  as  far  as  needful 
earthly  objects,  and  to  feel  our  own  in- 
significance and  the  greatness  of  the 
triune  Being  whom  we  address.  In  the 
efiort  to  do  this,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
God's  revealed  character,  the  heaven — 
whether  place  or  state  it  matters  not — 
into  which  he  invites  us  to  enter,  the 
promises  of  pardon  to  repenting  sinners, 
and  of  salvation  throuo'h  the  atonement 

o 

of  Jesus  Christ.  We  should  avoid 
straining  after  conceptions  which,  as  we 
find  them  in  recorded  prayers  of  many 


46  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

holy  men,  seem  generally  the  product 
of  a  morbid,  over-stimulated  fancy, 
wliicli  are  scarcely  sanctioned  by  the 
Bible,  and  which,  even  if  natural  and 
legitimate  to  some  minds,  are  neither 
possible  nor  profitable  to  others.  There 
are  those  who  feel  ever  the  glowing 
fervor  and  mounting  enthusiasm,  who 
decorate  their  daily  life,  and  even  the 
hour  of  death,  with  the  golden  coloring 
of  that  faculty  which,  in  its  renewed 
state,  is  effulgent  with  the  glory  of 
heaven,  and,  seeking  ever  there  its 
loved  forms  of  perfection,  returns  to  the 
dark  and  defiled  objects  of  earth  only  to 
reflect  on  them  its  own  brightness  and 
to  transform  them  into  its  own  purity 
and  beauty. 

Other  minds,  again,  know  nothing  of 
this  affluence  of  thought.  To  their 
less  susceptible  intelligence.  Imagination 


Til  is    ONE    TIIIXG    I    DO.  47 

neither  makes  near  and  visible  the  un- 
seen, nor,  acting  in  her  most  valuable 
capacity,*  does  she  aid  them  to  appre- 

*  This  mode  of  operation  of  the  imagination — not 
stated,  so  f;ir  as  we  have  seen,  in  any  treatise  on 
-mental  science — is  occasionally  elsewhere  adverted  to. 
Bishop  Butler's  rare  discrimination  and  candor  could 
njt  but  perceive  and  admit  that  the  "  vain,  delusive 
faculty"  was  of  "assistance  to  apprehension."  Cole- 
ridge wrote  that  "if  imagination  is  sometimes  an  i(/nis 
J'atuiis  to  lead  us  astray,  it  is  more  often  a  torch  of 
light  to  guide  us  in  our  Avay."  Shelley,  in  his  "  De- 
fence of  Poetry,"  says  that  "  poetry" — which  may  here, 
as  its  result  or  expression,  1d€  considered  synonynivius 
with  imagination — "is  at  once  the  centre  and  circum- 
ference of  knowledge ;"  and  a  living  writer  has  the 
same  thought  Avhen,  describing  this  power,  he  says, 
"Penetrating  always  to  the  innermost  nature  <-f  every 
thing  it  grasps,  piercing  the  very  lieart  (f  tilings, 
poising  itself  at  the  positive  centre,  &c.,  imagination 
is  in  man  the  brightest  intellectual  reflection  of  the 
Godhead."  And  again,  the  same  writer  says,  in  an- 
other article,  "  Imagination  discovers",  by  modes  pecu- 
liar to  itself,  truths  wdiicli  no  other  mental  power  does  or 
can  discover.  *  *  *  The  peculiar  force  of  imagination  is 
<;onnected  with  such  intuitive  perceptions  of  otherwise 
unnoted  truth  as  Justify  the  *^hought  that  it  is  the 
chief  of  intellectual  powers,  tlie  very  vivifying  soul 
of  reason."     See  articles  on  Coleridge  and  Tennvsou 


48  THIS    ONE    THING    I    J)(). 

hend  truth,  to  collect  materials  for  the 
operations  of  reason,  and,  indirectly,  thus 
to  lay  a  broader  foundation  for  their  re- 
ligious faith.  But  even  to  them  the  his- 
tory and  facts  of  revelation  are  a  lamp 
in  darkness,  and,  with  less  of  exulting 
joy,  they  may  still  offer  their  praise, 
make  known  their  requests  to  God,  and 
wait  in  confidence  and  peace  for  the  un- 
sealing of  the  mystery^ 

To  a  third  class  of  Christians,  whose 
type  may  have  been  Thomas,  the  flights 
of  a  sanctified  fancy,  even  if  possible, 
seem  forbidden.  They  feel  oppressively 
the  wonder,  the  solemnity  of  existence, 
and,  in  viewing  the  awful  uncertainty 
of  the  future,  the  heights  and  depths  of 
God's  nature  and  government,  their  flesh 
seems  to  tremble  and  their  heart  to  fail. 

in  ''  Presbyterian  Quarterly  Review"  of  Juno,  1855, 
and  Marchll  1858. 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  49 

They  ask  for  facts,  for  simplest  truths. 
They  will  not  rest  content  with  the  tes- 
timony of  even  a  Mary  or  a  John ;  but, 
with  every  sense  strained  as  for  the  life 
and  death  of  their  souls,  must  look  at, 
must  handle  the  evidence  of  their  hope. 
Such  find  it  often  fearful  to  pray.  They 
come  more  humbly  than  boldly  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  and  think  of  heaven 
with  yearning  desire,  it  may  be,  but 
with  modified  expectation.  They  might 
adopt  the  language  of  one  who  had, 
more  than  most  men,  and  unrestricted 
to  poetic  perception,  a  "  vision  and  fa- 
culty divine,"  and  whose  diligent  study 
and  careful  pondering  of  revealed  truth 
made  him  pause  and  reverently  tread 
where  the  thoughtless  rush  in  unawed 
and  confident.  ''  To  pray,"  says  Cole- 
ridge,— "  to  pray  as  God  would  have  us, 
— this  is  what  at  times  makes  nie  turn 


50  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

cold  to  my  soul.  Believe  me,  to  pray 
with  all  your  heart  and  strength,  with 
the  reason  and  the  will,  to  believe 
vividly  that  God  will  listen  to  your 
voice  through  Christ,  and  surely  do  the 
thing  he  pleaseth  thereupon, — this  is 
the  last,  the  greatest  achievement  of 
the  Christian's  warfare  on  earth.  Teach 
us  to  pray,  0  Lord  !"  The  typical  lan- 
guage which  pictures  the  scenes  and 
employments  of  heaven  or  describes  the 
horrors  of  hell, — the  green  fields  and 
still  waters,  the  harp  and  the  crown, 
the  white  robes  and  seraph  wings,  the 
unquenchable  fire  and  the  worm  that 
dieth  not, — though  David  and  Isaiah, 
Wesley  and  Cowper,  have  hallowed  it 
to  our  thoughts  and  almost  made  it  a 
part  of  our  belief, — is  all  unwelcome  to 
that  earnest  mind  which  wants    proof 


THIS  ONE  ti;i::g  i  do.  51 

alone,  and   turns    impatient    from    only 
illustrative  imagery. 

It  matters  little,  then,  what  our  con- 
ceptions are,  if  we  can  receive  with  faith 
the  declarations  of  the  Bible  and  make 
our  approach  to  a  holy  God  as  reverent 
and  penitent  children.  He  requires  of 
us  not  so  much  the  exercises  of  the  in- 
tellect as  the  tribute  of  the  heart.  Just 
sentiments  in  well-selected  words  may 
be  indeed  a  tongue  to  the  dumb  and  a 
help  to  the  inexperienced  believer  whose 
sense  of  his  want  has  as  yet  not  prompted 
the  expression  of  it;  but,  unless  the 
words  we  use,  whether  our  own  or 
another's,  are  the  soul's  pleadings  with 
God,  they  are  in  vain  addressed  to  him. 
We  must — to  use  the  Scripture  paradox 
— strive  to  see  Him  who  is  invisible, 
and  speak  as  if  we  were  well  persuaded 
of    what    we    profess    to    believe    and 


52  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

do   constantly  acknowledge, — that  ''  he 
heareth  us." 

The  subjects  of  prayer  have  been 
arranged  under  the  heads  of  Adoration, 
Confession,  Thanksgiving,  Petition,  and 
Intercession.  These  divisions  embrace 
all  direct  intercourse  with  our  Maker, 
and  a  reference  to  them  will  be  a  guide 
to  our  thoughts  and  enable  us  to  order 
well  our  words.  But  a  close  and  uni- 
form adherence  to  the  order  of  address 
or  the  form  of  expression  will  be  found 
a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help,  will 
make  a  burden  and  labor  of  prayer,  and 
cramp  the  free  movement  of  the  soul 
toward  God;  One  of  the  best  prayers 
ever  made — for  it  was  recorded  with 
commendation  and  rewarded  Avith  im- 
mediate blessing — was  a  single  petition 
and  single  confession  : — "  God  be  merci- 


THIS    ONK    THING    I    DO.  OO 

ful  to  me,  a  sinner !"  The  character  of 
prayer,  though  it  should  not  solely  de- 
pend on  our  frames  and  feelings,  must 
in  a  measure  be  modified  by  them ;  and 
our  spiritual  perceptions  and  require- 
ments vary  like  our  ph^'sical  needs. 
There  are  occasions  when  views  of  our 
unworthiness  and  doubts  of  our  accept- 
ance may  forbid  any  utterance  but  that 
oi  confession ;  when  dread  of  an  impend- 
ing calamity  or  threatening  of  spiritual 
enemies  will  resolve  all  our  thoughts 
into  the  language  of  petition;  when 
anxiety  for  the  salvation  of  beloved 
friends  will  cause  us  to  pour  out  our 
heart,  our  self,  in  agony  of  intercession 
for  them.  But  in  the  ordinary  perform- 
ance of  the  duty  of  prayer,  our  personal 
condition  and  relative  claims  should  find 
their  appropriate  expression.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  dwell  too  long  upon  a  sin  or  a 


54  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

want,  to  be  one-sided  in  prayer  as  in 
opinion,  to  look  so  long  at  self  as  to  im- 
pair our  perception  of  God  and  contract 
our  sympathy  with  man. 

We  f(iil  greatly  more  than  anywhere 
else  in  prayer  in  the  duty  of  Adoration. 
If  it  is  to  be  a  prominent  employment 
in  heaven,  why  should  we  not  more  fre- 
quently engage  in  it  on  earth  ?  Why 
delay  to  enjoy  blessings  which  are  of- 
fered now  ?  Why  reject  the  privileges 
of  a  sonship  which  is  already  ours  ? 
Why  withdraw  ourselves  like  Adam, 
when,  like  Enoch,  we  might  walk  with 
God  ?  Mary  sat  at  the  feet  of  her 
Saviour.  John — perhaps  from  accident 
of  Oriental  attitude,  but,  we  love  to 
think,  from  the  promptings  of  affection 
— leaned  on  the  bosom  of  his  Lord. 
Thus,  Adoration  places  the  soul  in  a 
position  before  its  Maker  which  it  ought 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  00 

more  often  to  assume.  Looking  on  Him 
who  has  revealed  himself,  even  though 
it  be  as  through  a  glass,  darkly,  we  be- 
come more  familiar  with  his  attributes, 
more  sensible  of  his  presence.  Our  fear 
purifies  our  love,  and  then — blessed  be 
God! — perfected  love  forever  " caste tli 
out  fear."  There  is  a  poverty  in  the 
Christian  meditation  so  long  as  it  stops 
with  self  To  look  only  at  ourselves 
will  not  help  us  in  the  onward  course. 
We  shall — to  apply  otherwise  the  lan- 
guage of  Baxter — only  turn  over  bones 
and  read  our  lesson  in  the  dust.  Are 
the  glories  of  the  Godhead,  the  wonders 
of  creation,  and  the  hopes  of  redemption, 
to  be  set  aside  by  our  own  comparatively 
pitiful  wants  and  offences?  Why  can 
we  not  look  above  these  ?  Whj^  return 
ever  to  our  wallowing  in  the  mire  ?  If 
we  have  repented  of  sin  and  accepted 


oG  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

Christ  as  our  Saviour,  why  not  receive 
instruction  and  comfort  from  the  as- 
surances of  Scripture  ?  "  Ye  are  washed, 
ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  by  tlie 
Spirit  of  our  God."  ^'  We  have  received 
the  Spirit  which  is  of  God,  that  we 
might  know  the  things  that  are  freely 
given  to  us  of  God."  ''  Now  being  made 
free  from  sin  and  become  servants  of 
God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  holiness, 
and  the  end  everlasting  life,"  "  We 
have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace 
wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope 
of  the  glory  of  God." 

We  practise  most  imperfectly,  also, 
the  duty  of  Intercession.  Every  one 
who  prays  at  all,  prays  for  some  parent, 
brother,  child,  or  friend.  Many,  doubt- 
less, pray,  with  desires  as  vague  as  the 
petition  is  general,  "for  all  classes  and 


THIS    ONE    THING    1    DO.  57 

conditions  of  men ;"  but  such  is  not  the 
pleading  for  others  Avhich  the  Law  of 
love  requires.  Our  daily  intercourse 
with  the  world  brings  us  into  contact 
with  many  who  need  our  prayers  if  ^v^e 
cannot  always  address  to  them  our 
warnings.  The  beggar  who  receives 
your  alms  scarce  knows  there  is  a  God. 
The  philosopher  whom  you  honor  and 
admire  may  only  have  that  wisdom 
which  is  ''  foolishness  in  the  sight  of 
God."  The  laborer,  mechanic,  or  artist 
who  cultivates  your  land,  erects  or 
adorns  your  mansions,  year  after  year 
receives  your  directions  and  your  money; 
yet  you  remember  him  no  more  when 
he  has  fulfilled  your  need,  and  never 
ask  God  to  save  his  immortal  soul.  He 
who  ministers  to  you  in  holy  things 
may  point  the  Avay,  yet  not  walk  in  it; 
and  even  if  he  is  eax^nest  and  faithful, 


58  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

he  is  liuman,  and  needs  fellow-helpers 
in  uplifting  his  arms  to  God.  Still  fur- 
ther;— along  your  crowded  streets  you 
hear  the  language  of  passion  and  pro- 
fanity :  you  see  not  perhaps  him  who 
utters  it,  but  pause  a  while,  and,  how- 
ever engaged,  lift  for  a  moment  your 
heart  to  God  and  ask  for  pardon  and 
redeeming  grace  for  that  poor  outcast. 
Do  not  despair  of  being  heard.  Whether 
heard  or  not,  if  you  love  your  brother 
man,  you  cannot  but  pray  for  him. 
Plant  your  seed  :  in  due  time  it  may 
come  forth.  Pray!  labor!  that  you  may 
save  one  soul,  or  at  least  help  it  on  to 
happiness  and  heaven. 

We  may  not  omit  here  what  might 
seem  an  almost  needless  remark, — that 
prayer  is  not  confined  to  the  reverential 
posture  and  to  the  appointed  hour  of 
demotion.      Valuable   and  necessary   as 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  59 

these  are,  thej  are  adjuncts  only,  not 
prayer  itself, — the  stays  and  props  of 
our  feeble  spirituality,  the  hedges  and 
fences  to  our  wandering  attention  and 
affections,  but  not  to  be  mistaken  for 
the  soul's  communion  with  its  Maker. 
The  man  who  has  the  spirit  of  prayer 
may  on  the  battle-field,  on  the  ocean, 
on  a  sick-bed,  have  small  opportunity 
for  the  regular  devotion  of  ordinary  life ; 
but  the  presence  of  his  God  is  with  him 
to  afford  him  spiritual  strength,  and  in 
each  varied  scene,  in  the  enticements  of 
pleasure,  the  hurry  of  business,  or  bear- 
ing the  burden  of  sorrow,  he  seeks  con- 
tinually divine  help, — like  the  child 
who  neither  in  the  flowery  pathway  nor 
the  rugged  road  ever  wanders  far  from 
his  parent,  but  turns  still  to  catch  the 
glance  of  sympathy  or  grasj)  the  ex- 
tended hand. 


60  THIS    ONE    THIXG    1    DO. 

In  conclusion,  we  shall  best  learn  the 
spirit  of  prayer  and  its  appropriate  ex- 
pression by  making  the  word  of  God 
our  guide.  Those  who  daily  transfer 
the  subjects  of  their  Scriijture-reading 
into  their  addresses  to  God,  and  adopt 
its  sentiments  and  language,  will  find 
an  enlargement  and  encouragement  in 
this  exercise  which  no  other  human 
means — if  indeed  it  can  be  called  such 
— will  so  fully  afford.  The  Christianity 
which  is  daily  baptized  at  the  ever- 
springing  fountain  of  Scripture  will  con- 
tinue to  wear  the  freshness  and  purity 
of  its  youth,  and  to  display  the  vigor 
and  devotedness  of  new  consecration. 
He  who — to  change  the  figure — daily 
dons  that  divine  panoply  will  go  forth 
well  defended  against  the  attacks  of 
Satan  and  the  world,  and  with  ample 
compensation    for    his    own    feebleness. 


THIS    OXE    THING    I    DO.  .    61 

We  fall  so  often  in  the  combat  because 
we  forget  or  lay  down  part  of  our 
armor,  have  let  fall  our  shield  of  faith, 
or,  while  we  wield  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  are  unshod  by  the  temper  and 
principles  of  gospel  peace. 

We  need  a  power  beyond  our  own  to 
enable  us  to  distinguish  and  resist  not 
only  ordinary  temptations,  but  such  as 
are  peculiar  to  our  favored  times.  If  in 
heathen  lands  men  grope  in  the  dark- 
ness of  ignorance  and  vice,  we  seem  to 
see  them  in  Christian  lands  blinded  also 
and  stumbling  by  reason  of  the  light 
which  now  in  its  noonday  blaze  is  dif- 
fused over  the  doctrines  of  theology  and 
the  rules  of  practice.  Routine  and  for- 
mality on  the  one  hand,  and  a  spurious 
enthusiasm,  a  perverted  activity,  on  the 
other,  lower  the  standard  of  Bible  Chris- 
tianity,   impair    its    influence,    and    en- 


62  THIS    ONE    THING    I    BO. 

clanger  its  life.  In  no  way  can  we  avoid 
these  evils  but  bj  faithful  study  and  con- 
stant, prayerful  apj)lication  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Scripture.  "  Thy  word  have  I 
hid  in  my  heart,  that  I  might  not  sin 
against  thee."  "  To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony"  the  prophet  directed  his 
people ;  and  so,  in  our  day,  to  no  other 
source  of  wisdom  and  peace  can  we 
point  you  tlian  to  a  law  so  perfect,  so 
searching,  that  it  discerneth  the  thouglits 
and  intents  of  the  heart,  and  casteth 
down  every  imagination  even  that  un- 
duly exalte th  itself;  to  a  testimony  so 
full,  so  impartial,  of  the  character,  sins, 
and  sufferings  of  God's  people,  so  abun- 
dant, and  convincing,  of  his  long-suffer- 
ing and  love,  of  his  willingness  to  re- 
ceive and  pardon,  of  his  grace  conferred 
through  life,  and  his  suj)port  promised 
and  bestowed  in  death,  that  it  readier 


THIS   OXE    THING    I    DO.  bo 

every  conceivable  case  of  guilt  and 
affliction,  and  reveals  the  only  method 
of  recover V  and  release.  Well  mioht 
the  sacred  writer  exclaim,  with  seem- 
ingly irrepressible  emotion,  and  with 
forcible  and  welcome  repetition  through- 
out the  Psalm,  '^  Oh,  how  T  love  thy 
law !  How  sweet  are  thy  words  unto 
my  taste !  Thy  testimonies  have  I 
taken  as  a  lieritage  forever :  they  are 
the  rejoicing  of  my  heart !  Thy  word 
is  very  pure :  therefore  thy  servant 
loveth  it !  I  have  longed  for  thy  salva- 
tion, 0  Lord,  and  thy  law  is  my  de- 
light !  The  righteousness  of  thy  testi- 
monies is  everlasting :  give  me  under- 
standing and  I  shall  live." 

We  have  finished  what  we  proposed 
to  do.  We  have  endeavored  to  urge 
upon  those  commencing  a  Christian  life 


64  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

the  necessity  of  an  earnest  and  careful 
consideration  of  the  duties  of  the  service 
they  have  chosen ;  to  point  out  the  im- 
portance to  their  subsequent  course  of  a 
high  standard  of  excellence  and  of  right 
views  of  the  ordinance  which  signifies 
their  union  to  Christ ;  and  we  have  con- 
cluded this  portion  of  our  discussion  by 
a  warning  that  the  strongest  convictions 
and  the  warmest  emotions  will  become 
faint  and  cold,  and  the  heart  relaj^se 
into  worldliness,  unless  the  Christian 
abide  in  the  spirit  and  practice  of 
prayer.  As  bearing  directly  upon  the 
argument,  we  have  added  some  general 
and  desultory,  but,  we  believe,  im- 
portant observations  on  the  mode  of 
conducting  this  our  intercourse  with 
God. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  plain 
that  our  aim  is  to  set  before  the  mind 


THIS    ONE    THING    1    DO.  65 

of  the  reader  that  the  love  and  service 
of  God  are  to  be  considered  "  the  grand 
affair  of  life ;"  and  that  the  resolve  to 
embrace  the  doctrines  and  conform  to 
the  requirements  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion is  to  be — as  has  been  admirably 
stated  in  a  kindred  connection — "  the 
result  of  foresight  and  deliberate  pur- 
pose, not  a  matter  of  indolent  ac- 
quiescence or  passive  resignation,  but 
what  we  arrive  at  by  bent  of  soul,  ple- 
nary choice,  and  a  decision  which  dis- 
regards all  risks.''  Other  objects,  not 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
but  very  distinct  in  character  and 
sphere,  will  demand  and  were  designed 
to  receive  a  large  portion  of  your  in- 
terest and  attention ;  Ijut,  more  than  all 
else,  value  the  favor  of  God,  and  chiefly 
endeavor  to  obtain  the  holiness  and 
happiness  of  heaven. 


66  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

We  would  carefully  avoid  misleading 
jou  in  a  most  momentous  matter.  The 
practice  of  self-denial  has  in  men  of 
widely-differing  religious  creeds  run  into 
asceticism  and  self-righteousness.  The 
teaching  of  enlightened  and  otherwise 
moderate  men  has,  in  this  regard,  often 
been  characterized  by  exaggerated  state- 
ments and  misjudged  emphasis.  Many 
inquirers,  we  well  knoAV,  stand  perplexed 
between  the  apparent  design  of  God  in 
creation  and  providence,  and  his  re- 
vealed will  as  humanly  expounded  or 
inferred  from  disconnected  passages  of 
Scripture.  Everywhere  in  Holy  Writ 
we  are  warned  to  love  not  the  world 
nor  the  things  of  the  world,  to  mortify 
the  affections,  to  cast  aside  every  weight, 
and  not  to  entangle  ourselves  with  the 
affairs  of  this  life. 

In  urging  you  to  receive  these  direc- 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  67 

tions  with  the  proper  rules  of  interpreta- 
tion, and  to  look  at  them  in  the  light 
which  the  rest  of  Scripture  and  the 
plans  of  Providence  throw  around  them, 
we  think  we  neither  intermeddle  rashly 
nor  abate  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law. 
Why  should  Ave  be  wise  beyond  what 
is  written  ?  Think  you  that  He  who 
formed  the  eye  to  behold  each  minute 
glory  of  a  world  robed  in  beauty  as  in 
a  garment,  who  attuned  the  ear  to 
catch  the  many-toned  melodies  which 
from  wind  and  ocean,  from  insect  and 
bird,  swell  into  so  marvellous  a  har- 
mony;— think  you  that  He  who  mag- 
nificently adorned  the  spirit  as  well  as 
the  abode  of  man,  who  filled  the  soul 
with  wonders  of  perceptive  and  creative 
power,  with  desires,  hopes,  affections 
more  varied  and  beautiful  than  philoso- 
pher  can    analyze   or   poet   describe, — 


68  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

think  you  that  He  bestowed  on  you 
these  capabilities  for  the  instruction 
and  enjoyment  which  with  such  Lavish 
bounty  he  has  provided,  and  then  bade 
you  stand  aloof^  close  your  eyes,  harden 
your  heart,  and  become  a  mysterious 
exception  to  the  reciprocal  action  and 
well-fitted  relations  of  his  universe  ? 
No :  let  us  magnify  our  God !  Not 
thus  do  we  read  his  will.  In  accord- 
ance with  that  will  we  believe  that 
science,  which  is  the  knowledge  of 
creation,  the  description,  including  their 
arrangement  and  classification,  of  all 
observed  appearances  in  the  worlds  of 
matter  and  of  mind ; — that  art,  which 
is  combination  and  representation  of 
materials  already  furnished, — that  the 
higher  forms  of  intercourse  of  mind 
with  mind  and  heart  with  heart, — may 
remain   to    us    sources  of  ever-new  in- 


THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO.  69 

terest  and  occupation.  The  danger 
attending  our  enjoyment  of  them  is  that 
we  become  unmindful  of  the  end  for 
which  it  was  bestowed ;  that  we  for- 
get, in  the  temporary  refreshment  and 
strengthening,  the  appointed  progress 
and  toil,  the  inevitable  burden  of  life; 
and  that  we  continually  essay  to  slake 
in  these  wayside  wells  a  thirst  which 
only  "  the  fountain  of  living  waters" 
can  quench.  But,  in  the  design  of  God, 
every  blessing  has  its  corresponding 
temptation,  and  the  very  evil,  which  is 
thus  always  with  the  good  offered  to 
our  choice,  is,  strangely,  a  more  abound- 
ing mercy  and  a  fuller  proof  of  wisdom 
and  love.  If  the  arrangements  of  pro- 
vidence seem  framed  to  afford  us  this 
discipline  of  trial,  the  Scripture  Avord 
of  warning  and  consolation  was  surely 
given  to  sustain   and    encourage   us  in 


70  THIS    ONE    TillXG    I    DO. 

the  process.  We  stand  on  the  brink 
of  many  a  moral  precipice,  and  have 
need  to  pray,  "  Order  my  steps  in  thy 
word."  ^'  Hold  up  my  goings,  that  my 
footsteps  slip  not."  The  lesson  is  re- 
peatedly taught  us  to  "  use  without 
abusing,"  and  to  let  our  '^  moderation 
be  known  unto  all  men." 

And  what  is  the  great  end  of  tJiis 
care  and  watchfulness,  this  sell-mastery, 
this  training  of  an  infant  and  imperfect 
mind,  this  diligent  inquiry  into  the  will 
of  God,  this  obedience  to  the  precepts 
and  imitation  of  the  example  of  Christ  ? 
Let  the  word  of  inspiration  itself  declare 
it : — "  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth ;  for  the  first  heaven  and  the 
first  earth  Avere  passed  away."  ^*  If  any 
man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature ; 
old  things  are  passed  away,  behold  all 
tilings  are  become   new."     Observe  the 


THIS    ONE    THlN(x    I    DO.  71 

^new"  and  final  adaptation.  The  ma- 
>terial  creation  was  "very  good,"  but 
perishable  and  finite.  In  the  soul  of 
man  is  a  strange  commingling  of  con- 
flicting principles  and  dissimilar  quali- 
ties. Godlike  we  may  call  it,  for  ''  God 
■created  man  in  his  own  image ;"  but, 
alas !  hatred  and  variance,  wrath  and 
malice,  murders  and  drunkenness,  are 
'^  the  manifest  works  of  the  flesh,"  of 
that  nature  whose  glory  has  become  its 
shame.  Why  it  was  thus  constituted 
is  an  unexplained  mystery  of  his  will. 
We  confess  that  the  questions  of  the 
origin  of  evil  and  the  decrees  of  God 
are  none  the  clearer  to  us  for  all  the 
attempts  that  have  been  made  to  eluci- 
date them.  But  it  matters  little  "  how 
these  things  can  be."  It  is  enough  to 
know  that  God  m  his  own  time  will 
justify  his  ways  to  man;   that  the  glory 


72  THIS    ONE    THING    I    DO. 

of  the  terrestrial  is  one^ — an  imperfect, 
fading  glory, — but  the  glory  of  the 
celestial  is  another  and  a  brighter ;  that 
incorruption  must  spring  from  corrup- 
tion ;  that  the  raised  and  beautified 
body  shall  be  the  meet  companion  of 
the  redeemed  and  purified  soul.  In  the 
heaven  revealed  to  the  Christian  there 
can  be  no  sin,  for  nothing  that  defileth 
will  find  entrance ;  no  sorrow,  for  God 
himself  shall  wipe  away  all  tears ;  no 
separation,  for  the  "  sons  and  daugh- 
ters"— the  redeemed  of  all  ages — shall 
be  gathered  from  the  ends  of  the  earth ; 
no  death,  for  "  they  which  shall  be 
accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world" 
cannot  "  die  any  more ;"  no  end  to  all 
this  blessedness,  for  ^'this  God  is  our 
God  for  ever  and  ever :" — '^  his  king- 
dom   is    an     everlasting    kingdom^    and 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  73 

his  dominion  endureth   throughout    all 
generations. 

We  leave  the  subject  to  the  mind 
and  conscience  of  whosoever  will  follow 
us  to  the  end.  0  friend,  though  we 
meet  not  eye  to  eye,  the  heart  of  the 
writer  yearns  over  you,  longs  intensely 
that  these  words  may  not  have  been 
written  for  you  in  vain,  that  you  may 
know  the  new  birth,  or,  if  you  have 
known  it,  that  you  may  grow  to  the 
stature  of  a  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Oh, 
be  persuaded,  if  not  by  this  reason- 
ing,— and  we  believe  we  have  spoken 
unto  you  gospel  truth, — by  any  thing 
more  powerful  to  move  you, — by  the 
pleadings  of  the  preacher,  by  the  pious 
example  of  some  beloved,  perhaps  de- 
parted Christian  friend,  by  the  sorrows 
of  life  and   the  coming   solemnities  of 


74  THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO. 

death,  to  do  tJiis  one  thing  which  is  the 
burden  of  our  message  to  you.  "  So 
run,  not  as  uncertainly;"  press  toward 
the  mark,  for  it  is  certain  that  you 
will  reach  it  and  receive  the  prize  if 
you  falter  not  in  your  course.  Enter 
ye  in  at  the  strait  gate.  Many  seek — 
indolently,  carelessly  seek — to  enter  in, 
"and  shall  not  be  able."  But  as  for 
yoit,  agonize,  wrestle  with  God  in  prayer, 
^lest  you  be  suddenly  and  forever  shut 
out.  Go  to  your  Saviour ;  listen  as  he 
asks,  "  Lovest  thou  me  ?"  and  if  you 
can  utter,  even  feebly,  the  response  of 
Peter, — once  wavering  and  unfaithful 
Peter, — in  any  calling  or  place  feed  the 
sheep  and  lambs  of  that  Saviour's  flock ; 
like  him,  having  obtained  mercy,  be 
steadfast  unto  death,  and  He  who 
prayed  not  for  Peter  only,  biit  for  them 
also  who  should  in  future  time  be  peni- 


THIS   ONE    THING    I    DO.  75 

tent  and  believing,  will  show  you  the 
path  of  life  and  will  finally  bring  you 
into  that  Presence  where  are  "fulness 
of  joy  and  pleasures  for  evermore." 


THE    END. 


STEREOTYPED   BY   I..  .TOHNSON   4   CO, 
PHlLADELPniA. 


Semmsry-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01002  4133 


iiiiMtHHiwtHim>Hii»tHnnMimniiHitMigiw>ww»Hwwiww»mMe»m>wiiuniwwi/wiPW>«»> 


